Welcome to an Engaged Community

There's a better way to personalize your website experience. With myConnection, the profile you create allows you to set up a unique starting point for the tasks and transactions that you want to complete in your time on this website. Use myConnection to gather the information that you most care about from across this website into one central location, giving you greater control over how you connect with your community.

My Dashboard

Group Spotlight

CCWPNY is the name of the Google Group for residents in apartments in downtown White Plains. One objective is to balance the influence of house owners as represented by the CNA organization. Make WP less pedestrian hostile. Get more involved in the quality of life, including the new revitalization of the train station area.

OverviewThe role of the Historic Preservation Commission is to protect, educate and promote historically significant buildings, structures, sites, monuments, streetscapes and neighborhoods, which represent distinctive elements of the City's historical, architectural and cultural heritage.

The Historic Preservation Commission reviews applications requesting the designation of local landmarks and historic districts and makes recommendations to the Common Council. The Commission also reviews and evaluates applications for the proposed alteration or demolition of designated local landmarks or districts, and applications of proposed new construction located within a designated historic district.

The Commission meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Common Council Chamber at City Hall.

Latest NewsOn the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act, White Plains has received this recognition from the National Park Service for being a "Certified Local Government and partner in the Federal preservation program."

On May 12, 2017, the International Percy Grainger Society celebrated the landmark dedication of the Percy Grainger Home and Studio in White Plains.
Brian Conway, Cate Sandstrom and John Walsh performing Londonderry Air in Grainger's living room

Landmarked PropertiesThe following White Plains properties have been designated local landmarks:

D.A.R. Monument (Birthplace of the State of New York Monument)

Armory Place

A bronze eagle atop a neo-classical stone and mortar obelisk commemorating the site of the original county courthouse where on July 9-10, 1776, the New York Provincial Congress accepted the Declaration of Independence and declared New York an independent state. Stones from the original courthouse foundation are incorporated in the obelisk and base. Erected in 1910 by the White Plains Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Designed by Bruno Louis Zimm (1876-1943).

Foster-Buckout Cemetery

Hall Avenue

Family burial ground set aside in the 1820’s on Pine Tree Farm, the land of John Foster Sr. (later inherited by David Baldwin, it was the last operating farm in theCity of White Plains). Approximately 54 burials took place on the site between 1820 and 1948. Family names include Buckhout, Carpenter, Cox, Foster, Marsh, Meeks, Platt, Stevens and Wildey. All but one of the headstone were stolen or destroyed by vandalsin the 1980’s. The only remaining headstone is that of Charlotte Cowan (1851-1927) and John F. Buckhout (1847-1915).

In 1906, a committee headed by J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller (brother of John D, Rockefeller, Sr.) bought the controlling interest in the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Co. and commenced the design of a modern, electrified commuter railroad from the White Plains terminal (now the Westchester Mall site) to Morrisania in the Bronx. Construction commenced in 1909 and service began in 1912. The portion of the rail system within White Plains included four passenger stations and supporting infrastructure. The railroad ceased operations in 1937 after a fraught financial history. In 1996, the City dedicated 1.8 linear miles of the former right-of-way and adjacent lands as the White Plains Greenway. The site was improved with a 1.4 mile walking trail from Gedney Way to the Scarsdale border. Traces of the railroad remain including the buttresses and foundation of the Ridgeway bridge and station platform. In 2012, the Greenway was renamed in honor of longtime White Plains preservation advocate Jack Harrington.

Jacob Purdy House

60 Park Avenue

Cir. 1720 farm house built by Samuel Horton and later owned by the family of Jacob Purdy (1739-1822); an officer in the Westchester militia during the Revolutionary War. The house served twice as the headquarters of General George Washington; firstfrom October 23-28, 1776 during the Battle of WhitePlains, and again from July 21 – September 16, 1778. The property stayed in the Purdy and Ferris families until becoming a multiple dwelling residence. In 1973, it was moved from its original location on Spring Street to its current site atop Purdy Hill. The building is under the management of the White Plains Historical Society open to the public by appointment (914) 328-1776.

Percy Grainger Home and Studio

7 Cromwell Place

Shingle style residence built cir. 1892 by David Cromwell, a local banker who was involved in many White Plains civic institutions. His son, John Chester,was a volunteer firefighter who was killed in the Mead Building fire on February 3, 1907. The building was purchased as a private home, studio and archive in 1921 by Australian-born musician/composer Percy Grainger (1882-1961) (Children’s March “Over the Hills and Far Away,”Country Gardens, Londonderry Air, Mock Morris). The house was also occupied by Grainger’s mother, Rosa, and his wife, artist Ella Strom Grainger. The property is managed by the International Percy Grainger Society and open to the public by appointment (914) 281-1610.

Soundview Manor

283 Soundview Avenue

c. 1920 neoclassical mansion deigned by Chester A. Patterson as a private country residence for tobaccoheir Robert L. Dula and his then wife Elsie. The thirdfloor contains a 33’ x 18’ penthouse ballroom withviews of Long Island Sound through three sets of French doors. The building is a private residence.